Song of Solomon 4-5

English Standard Version

Solomon Admires His Bride's Beauty

He

4 Behold, ^(A)you are beautiful, my love,
    behold, you are beautiful!
^(B)Your eyes are doves
    ^(C)behind your veil.
^(D)Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down ^(E)the slopes of Gilead.
²Your ^(F)teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
    that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
    and not one among them has lost its young.
³Your lips are like ^(G)a scarlet thread,
    and your mouth is ^(H)lovely.
Your ^(I)cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    ^(J)behind your veil.
⁴Your ^(K)neck is like the tower of David,
    built in ^(L)rows of stone;^[a]
on it ^(M)hang a thousand shields,
    all of ^(N)them shields of warriors.
⁵Your ^(O)two breasts are like two ^(P)fawns,
    twins of a gazelle,
    that ^(Q)graze among the lilies.
⁶^(R)Until the day breathes
    and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of ^(S)myrrh
    and the hill of ^(T)frankincense.
⁷^(U)You are altogether beautiful, my love;
    there is no ^(V)flaw in you.
⁸^(W)Come with me from ^(X)Lebanon, my ^(Y)bride;
    come with me from ^(Z)Lebanon.
Depart^[b] from the peak of Amana,
    from the peak of ^(AA)Senir and ^(AB)Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
    from the mountains of leopards.

⁹You have captivated my heart, my ^(AC)sister, my bride;
    you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
    with one ^(AD)jewel of your necklace.
¹⁰How beautiful is your love, my ^(AE)sister, my bride!
    How much ^(AF)better is your love than wine,
    and ^(AG)the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
¹¹Your ^(AH)lips drip nectar, my bride;
    ^(AI)honey and milk are under your tongue;
    the fragrance of your garments is ^(AJ)like the fragrance of ^(AK)Lebanon.
¹²A garden locked is my ^(AL)sister, my bride,
    a spring locked, ^(AM)a fountain ^(AN)sealed.
¹³Your shoots are ^(AO)an orchard of pomegranates
    with all ^(AP)choicest fruits,
    ^(AQ)henna with ^(AR)nard,
¹⁴nard and saffron, ^(AS)calamus and ^(AT)cinnamon,
    with all trees of ^(AU)frankincense,
^(AV)myrrh and ^(AW)aloes,
    with all ^(AX)choice spices—
¹⁵a garden fountain, a well of ^(AY)living water,
    and flowing streams from ^(AZ)Lebanon.

¹⁶Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my ^(BA)garden,
let its spices flow.

Together in the Garden of Love

She

^(BB)Let my beloved come to his ^(BC)garden,
and eat its ^(BD)choicest fruits.

He

5 I ^(BE)came to my garden, my ^(BF)sister, my bride,
    I gathered my ^(BG)myrrh with my spice,
    I ate my ^(BH)honeycomb with my honey,
    I ^(BI)drank my wine with my milk.

Others

Eat, ^(BJ)friends, drink,
and be drunk with love!

The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

She

²I slept, but my heart was awake.
A sound! My beloved is ^(BK)knocking.
“Open to me, my ^(BL)sister, my ^(BM)love,
    my ^(BN)dove, my ^(BO)perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
    my ^(BP)locks with the drops of the night.”
³^(BQ)I had put off my garment;
    how could I put it on?
I had ^(BR)bathed my feet;
    how could I soil them?
⁴My beloved put his hand to the latch,
    and my heart was thrilled within me.
⁵I arose to open to my beloved,
    and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with ^(BS)liquid myrrh,
    on the handles of the bolt.
⁶I opened to my beloved,
    but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he ^(BT)spoke.
^(BU)I sought him, but found him not;
    ^(BV)I called him, but he gave no answer.
⁷^(BW)The watchmen found me
    as they went about in the city;
they beat me, they bruised me,
    they took away my veil,
    those watchmen of the walls.
⁸I ^(BX)adjure you, O ^(BY)daughters of Jerusalem,
    if you find my beloved,
that you tell him
    ^(BZ)I am sick with love.

Others

⁹What is your beloved more than another beloved,
O ^(CA)most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
that you thus ^(CB)adjure us?

The Bride Praises Her Beloved

She

¹⁰My beloved is radiant and ^(CC)ruddy,
    ^(CD)distinguished among ten thousand.
¹¹His head is the finest gold;
    ^(CE)his locks are wavy,
    black as a raven.
¹²His ^(CF)eyes are like doves
    beside streams of water,
bathed in milk,
    sitting beside a full pool.^[c]
¹³His ^(CG)cheeks are like ^(CH)beds of spices,
    mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
His lips are ^(CI)lilies,
    dripping ^(CJ)liquid myrrh.
¹⁴His arms are rods of gold,
    set with ^(CK)jewels.
His body is polished ivory,^[d]
    bedecked with ^(CL)sapphires.^[e]
¹⁵His legs are alabaster columns,
    set on bases of gold.
His appearance is like ^(CM)Lebanon,
    choice as the cedars.
¹⁶His ^(CN)mouth^[f] is most sweet,
    and he is altogether desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
    O ^(CO)daughters of Jerusalem.

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
Song of Solomon 4:8 Or Look
Song of Solomon 5:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Song of Solomon 5:14 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
Song of Solomon 5:14 Hebrew lapis lazuli
Song of Solomon 5:16 Hebrew palate

Galatians 3

English Standard Version

By Faith, or by Works of the Law?

3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? ^(A)It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly ^(B)portrayed as crucified. ²Let me ask you only this: ^(C)Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by ^(D)hearing with faith? ³Are you so foolish? ^(E)Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by^[a] the flesh? ⁴^(F)Did you suffer^[b] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? ⁵Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and ^(G)works miracles among you do so ^(H)by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— ⁶just as ^(I)Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

⁷Know then that it is ^(J)those of faith who are ^(K)the sons of Abraham. ⁸And the Scripture, foreseeing that ^(L)God would justify^[c] the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ^(M)“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” ⁹So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁰For all who rely on works of the law are ^(N)under a curse; for it is written, ^(O)“Cursed be everyone who does not ^(P)abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” ¹¹Now it is evident that ^(Q)no one is justified before God by the law, for ^(R)“The righteous shall live by faith.”^[d] ¹²But the law is not of faith, rather ^(S)“The one who does them shall live by them.” ¹³Christ ^(T)redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ^(U)“Cursed is everyone who is hanged ^(V)on a tree”— ¹⁴so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might ^(W)come to the Gentiles, so that ^(X)we might receive ^(Y)the promised Spirit^[e] through faith.

The Law and the Promise

¹⁵^(Z)To give a human example, brothers:^[f] ^(AA)even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. ¹⁶Now ^(AB)the promises were made ^(AC)to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, ^(AD)“And to your offspring,” who is Christ. ¹⁷This is what I mean: the law, which came ^(AE)430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as ^(AF)to make the promise void. ¹⁸For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but ^(AG)God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

¹⁹Why then the law? ^(AH)It was added because of transgressions, ^(AI)until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ^(AJ)put in place through angels ^(AK)by an intermediary. ²⁰Now ^(AL)an intermediary implies more than one, but ^(AM)God is one.

²¹Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For ^(AN)if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. ²²But the Scripture ^(AO)imprisoned everything under sin, so that ^(AP)the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given ^(AQ)to those who believe.

²³Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, ^(AR)imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴So then, ^(AS)the law was our ^(AT)guardian until Christ came, ^(AU)in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶for in Christ Jesus ^(AV)you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷For as many of you as ^(AW)were baptized ^(AX)into Christ have ^(AY)put on Christ. ²⁸^(AZ)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave^[g] nor free, ^(BA)there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And ^(BB)if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, ^(BC)heirs according to promise.

Footnotes

Galatians 3:3 Or now ending with
Galatians 3:4 Or experience
Galatians 3:8 Or count righteous; also verses 11, 24
Galatians 3:11 Or The one who by faith is righteous will live
Galatians 3:14 Greek receive the promise of the Spirit
Galatians 3:15 Or brothers and sisters
Galatians 3:28 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface